Virginia holds more than $1 billion worth of unclaimed property

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) _ More than $1 billion worth of property is waiting to be claimed in Virginia. Typically, unclaimed property includes items from abandoned safety deposit boxes and money from bank accounts, stocks, dividends, insurance claims, utility deposits or paychecks. The Virginia Department of Treasury is the custodian of property that isn’t claimed. Department spokesman Benjamin Jarvela tells The Virginian-Pilot that the treasury paid out about $45 million in claims and took possession of more than $136 million in the previous fiscal year. Jarvela says the average claim was around $1,978. Virginia Treasurer Manju Ganeriwala says almost all of the unclaimed financial property is deposited into a fund that can only be spent on K-12 education. Ganeriwala says unclaimed property can be claimed no matter how much time has passed.